Tuesday, 29 April 2014

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Wednesday, 23 April 2014

According to my husband this is British actor Peter Arne a bit part actor who starred in over 50 films including Pink Panther, The Moonraker, Ice Cold In Alex, Conspiracy of hearts, Straw Dogs and TV series such as Danger Man, The Saint, Softly Softly, The Avengers, Triangle, Hart to Hart and many more.

He was born in Kuala Lumpur, British Malaya in 1920 to a Swiss/French mother and an American father.

The actor met a sad end, his body was discovered inside his Knightbridge flat in 1983, he had been bludgeoned to death.

Sunday, 20 April 2014

I read an interesting thread in the Folksy.com forum recently asking about what people's favourite art and craft tools were.

For me (at the moment) it is my rug making tools.

This shows the assortment that I have accumulated over the years.

The yellow crochet hook is for making crochet and fabric tapestry rugs. I got this one from the Rug Maker's Homestead on Etsy.

The large, two-piece wooden shuttle hook is for making hooked rugs,
working from the reverse of the base fabric. The pictured one comes from
Debbie Siniska's Rag Rug Shop.
My first rag rug (shown below) was made using this hook and four wool
blankets from charity shops, which I dyed for the purpose.

The metal hook is a hand operated punch needle, made by Rumpelstiltskin
in the US. I am not sure that anyone still sells these in the UK.

The little metal one with the black stem is a Craftsman's punch needle
and I am currently using that on the piece you can see under the tools.
You work from the back of the fabric and can use the tool to form loops
of yarn, or fine strips of fabric on the front of the work. They are
available from The Ruggery
in the US. I bought this one from a UK seller, but I don't think they
stock them any more. However if you search for 'Punch Needle', there are
all sorts available.

The two spring loaded hooks are called bodgers and the modern one is available from Debbie Siniska.
The other one was found on Ebay. You use this tool to pull shortish
fabric strips through a pinch of backing fabric (working from the front)
to form a plush, shaggy rag rug. There is also a latch hook tool shown,
which I haven't yet used. You use it to pull short lengths of rug wool
through rug canvas and knot them in place.

There are three simple rug hooking hooks that look like a crochet hook
mounted in a wooden handle. These are used to pull loops up through a
backing fabric, working from the front of the piece. You can use yarn,
fabric strips, wool roving or whatever takes your fancy! Ribbons, strips
of plastic, and even wire have all been used. They are widely
available: The Rag Artist Studios
do a nice assortment. The primitive rag rug below is made using a
simple hand hook, and various woollen fabrics, including a tea-dyed
blanket, a jumper, assorted tweedy skirt lengths and another bit of
blanket that I dyed orange. As you can see, it attracts small creatures.

And this is my absolute favourite! The brass tool with the darker wood
handle is a prodder, used for making rugs with a shaggy finish; you prod
lengths of fabric through a base material, working from the back. This
particular tool is beautifully turned and smooth to hold. Similar tools
are sold by Rag Art Studios. The wall hanging below is made using this tool. The second photo shows the reverse.

Another tool, which missed the original photo shoot, is the toothbrush
needle (so called because these were originally fashioned from the
handle of an old toothbrush). It is like a big flat needle with a large
hole that you thread thick strips of fabric through, then working like a
blanket stitch you build up rows or circles of stitches to form your
rug. This one came second hand from Etsy, but Aunt Philly's in the US sell them. They also show a demo video of the process and sell instruction booklets.

Here is a rug I made, from some second hand batik fabrics that my Mum gave me, using the toothbrush needle.

Sunday, 6 April 2014

I started on this lap quilt a few months back, and had to stop for a
while to complete a couple of commissions, but I have finally finished
piecing the top.

This is how it started out: a pile of
little scraps, including fabrics dating back to the 1970s (summer
dresses, shirts, off cuts from other projects etc):-

These
were sorted into dark, medium and pale tones, then cut into strips,
pieced into squares of about 5 3/4". Then trimmed to 5 1/2" squares.
Because of the scraps I was working with, there was just about every
colour and tone possible, so I tried to make each square work with the
contrasts and colours within itself.

Here is a collage of some of the squares I came up with (randomly arranged).

When
I had 144 squares, I started to work out a pattern with the random
blocks. I decided to go for bands of colour in the columns, going from
light to dark in the rows.

Here is the finished top, being basted to the wadding and backing (with help from Brock!):-